Saturday, August 25, 2007

Isn’t it gorgeous? I love love love it. I am a little embarrassed to admit, however, that in all my years of running, I have never run to a soundtrack, and I’m a total clod at it. With each new song I get all geeked and try to run to the beat, which must look absurd. I’m like someone trying to use cruise control for the first time ... whoaaaa! too fast! stop! stop! ok, too slow, too slow ...

What’s the trick? Do I do a playlist with certain bpms? (Is that hard to do?) Learn to ignore the beat? Start appreciating atonal, arrhythmic music? Or should I just run with it turned off, since it looks so cool and no one can tell the difference?

19 comments:

You could use a program like Tangerine, which will create playlists by BPM. It's supposed to be quite easy, though I've never tried it myself. Also, the name of the program matches the color of your nano. Bonus! :)

Hmm, upon further investigation, apparently Tangerine only works on macs, and is also not free. Not sure how useful that is to you, but here's the actual page, as opposed to the less-useful link in my first comment. http://www.potionfactory.com/tangerine/

AIIIIIE! It's a doppleganger for my own much-beloved Marmalade (if you're looking for a name, my runners-up were Seville, Valencia, Squirt and Compote).

I have royally F'd my running S by attempting to run to the beat (as much of my music is dance-y and thus would make my heartrate skyrocket). However, disassociating your pace from the music is TOUGH (which is why I could've rightly been crowned Ms. Shin Splint USA 2007).

I usually try to aim for exactly half-pace with the music. Easier than it sounds, and suits my snail-like stride perfectly.

You should do a post for running music suggestions (like Schnozz recently did for roller derby)... yes, solely so I can get all geeky about my running playlist. I am so shameless.

The fitness in that one part of your body alone is enough to intimidate me right back to my bread and jam. I will never, ever be able to look like that!

Just keep trying, is my advice. Eventually your body will move with the rhythm of the song. If you find you're running too slow for your preference, download some faster songs. Or the soundtrack to the Bourne movies. That music always makes me want to want to run. :-p

When I'm listening to music in the car or around the house I'll sometimes hear a song and think "boy, I'd love to run to this song!" Somehow I think you just know when a song is "right" for you. Two of my favorites are "Now We're Getting Somewhere" by Crowded House and "Original of the Species" by U2. It's fun to think of good songs and then put them together for a running session.

Good luck! I doubt you look absurd, by the way. :)

Amy (one of your original maggots who can now run 50 minutes and 5 miles and has lost 10 pounds and is LOVING every step of it, all thanks to your original maggot post!!!!)

hmmm. i dont run but i DO swim -- and getting a waterproof case and headphones for my ipod was the best thing i EVER did. Otherwise, swimming laps is like the most boring thing you can EVER do. i dont really swim to the beat, but it IS tuff to sing along. glub glub

I LOVE my shuffle...I have a blue one. I usually work out on the elliptical or walk/run on the treadmill. I'm not a great runner, so I don't worry about the beat issue. I have a somewhat embarassing "teenage girl" playlist of really pop stuff. It includes things like "Survivor" and "Let's get this party started" and a bunch of stuff by the Pussycat dolls. I would never listen to this stuff hanging around the house, but it's great for exercising.

coooooooool! i love the colour :)i got one too, not long ago :) mine is white :) this might not be your cup of tea but how about listening to audiobooks? it takes multitasking to another level ;) my local library carries a few decent titles but you can get them from itunes too :)

I do like one of the above users and keep a separate playlist of songs I find appropriate for working out (either running or elliptical). If I have a hard time with the song on, I just skip to the next one. I suppose if I wanted to get super geek, I wouldn't shuffle the playlist and put them in order, but I like the surprise of the shuffle. And mine is blue - I love it!

One word...podrunner. http://www.djsteveboy.com/mixes.html New mix every week, techno dance music you can't really sing along to..and you can subscribe to it on iTunes and it'll auto download. I love podrunner. Plus you can pick the BPM you feel comfortable running, and it'll be consistant for the entire run.

I leave it off during the first part of my run, so my breathing and running can get on their natural rhythm. I turn the music on during the 2nd half of my run. It gives me something to look forward to, and when my run is half over, I've established a good breathing/running rhythm that is not disrupted by the music. I also keep the volume relatively low (unlike when I was younger; I thought I had to BLAST the music to make it count).

I walk with an iPod, and also feel compelled to match the beat. I just put the thing on shuffle and when a song comes w/ a beat too fast or slow, I just skip it. I guess it's the lazy person's playlist. Of course, this only works if you're holding the thing rather than wearing it clipped on...

I'm afraid that I'll get hit by a car if I run to music. Or get attacked from behind by one of the scary people who emerge from the bushes at around dusk on the path I run on.

That being said, if I run with music, I prefer peppy vacuous music. Like 80s music. Or pop. I've never had a problem with the beat thing ruining my run, but I think the music does make me go faster when there's a more up-tempo beat.